Drone Wind Resistance Levels [EXPLAINED]

Flying anything in the wind is a tough job. Be it a large manned aircraft or a small drone, windy weather has always been a major challenge for pilots in aviation history.

To describe the intensity of wind ocean ships can face, Francis Beaufort, an Irish navy Admiral, devised a scale called the Beaufort wind scale.

The same scale was modified to be used for aircraft and is termed wind resistance levels.

Drone wind resistance levels describe the ability of any drone to maintain its position against blowing wind. The higher the number, the better the drone is against strong wind.

In this article, we are going to explain what wind resistance levels are and how they are used with drones.

At the end, I am also going to explain how to find the wind speed in your area before flying so make sure you read till the end.

What are drone wind resistance levels?

A drone wind resistance level is a number between 0 and 12 that describes the highest wind speed the drone can resist.

The higher the number, the better a drone’s stability in high wind conditions.

For example, a drone with level 5 wind resistance is better than a level 4 drone in terms of handling itself in windy conditions.

The wind resistance level of drones corresponds to theBeaufort scale that categorizes the wind speed into 12 categories.

In 1794, Francis Beaufort came up with a scale to measure the degree of damage done by strong winds on ships.

Today’s adapted version of this scale – the one used to classify different degrees of wind strength – considers 12 different levels based on wind speed.

Drone Wind Resistance Level is often used by drone pilots and enthusiasts alike to classify the intensity of the wind.

What happens when I fly a drone in strong winds?

Flying in strong wind affects your drone in many ways. Here are a few notable effects:

Unpredictable movements

A strong wind gust can through your drone off the track and produce unpredictable movements both in the lateral directions.

Updrafts near large geographical bodies like mountain slopes and high buildings can produce updrafts that can result in an unexpected gain in altitude.

If you are flying under your designated wind resistance level, your drone can easily compensate for the external forces and quickly regain its position.

But if the wind is strong, it can damage your drone or even crash it.

Excessive Battery drain

Flying in the strong wind means your drone is doing extra work to keep up with and resist the high wind speed. This will cause the motors to draw more current from the battery and depletes the battery faster.

If you are flying in strong wind, try to fly downdraft or in the same direction as the wind to conserve your battery.

Lowering your altitude and flying near the ground surface can also reduce the intensity of the wind and will lower your battery drain.

Shaky images & videos

If your drone camera is mounted on a sensitive gimble, it might compensate for the lateral and up/down movements, due to the wind but a strong enough wind can produce shaky images and videos.

If you are going out for an aerial photography job, make sure the wind is within the limits to get better and clear images and videos.

The best weather for aerial photography is clear skies with no wind.

Compromised sensors

Some drones rely on visual image processing to maintain correct altitude and positioning.

If the winds are causing a slight dust storm below the drone, it can compromise the drone’s ability to maintain its position.

In such a case, you might face a failed RTH mode and will have to use manual control to get your drone back home.

Other features that depend on visual image processing like the DJI mini 2 follow me might also not work in too windy conditions.

What factors affect drone wind resistance level?

The level of wind resistance offered by drones depends on many physical and software features of the drone. Some of the major factors are below:

Weight of the drone

Heavier drones are better at flying during windy conditions compared to lighter drones.

The reason is simple; the additional weight provides better inertia against strong gusts, and the drone remains more stable in the air.

Compared to this, a lighter drone will be easily carried away by a strong wind.

That’s why you will see that drones with higher take-off weight also have a higher wind resistance rating.

Size of the drone

Size also influences how the drone responds to strong winds. Bigger drones have a higher surface area and are affected more by winds.

Smaller drones are less affected. Size, together with weight, has an overall counterbalancing effect.

Bigger drones have large surface areas and higher weights, so it depends on the size to weight ratio.

Shape

Sleek and aerodynamically shaped drones have lower drag coefficients and are less affected by winds than drones with a more blunt design.

If you look at drone shapes from a few years ago like the phantom, they were huge and bulky. The newer models like Mavic 3 are more sleek and aerodynamic.

Motor Power/Thrust

Your engine power is of utmost importance when it comes to resisting and flying against strong wind.

If your motors can produce enough speed to counter the wind and fly against it, you can control your drone better in the air.

As a rule of thumb, your drone should be capable of producing 50% more speed than the speed of the wind to be able to resist it.

Sensors

If your drone is equipped with a more sensitive IMU and GPS chip that can quickly detect a shift in lateral position due to wind.

The control unit can then compensate in real-time for the shift and your drone will be more stable in the air.

High-end DJI drones with the latest state-of-the-art sensors have higher wind resistance than mid-range or toy category drones with the same weight and size.

Software

Finally, your drone software also plays an important role in stabilizing your drones against pushing winds.

The more fine-tuned your software is at producing countermeasures to lateral movements due to winds, the better your drone will be during windy flights.

What wind is too strong for drones?

Most high-end drones like DJI Mavic 3 or Mini 2 have their wind resistance levels mentioned either on the packaging or in the drone manual.

The wind resistance level is expressed on theBeaufort scale, as discussed above, and is usually between 1 and 8.

As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t fly your drone in the wind 2/3 times stronger than your drone’s maximum speed.

For example, if your drone’s top speed is 16 m/s, you should not fly in a wind that is greater than 10 m/s. Doing so will put your drone at risk of uncontrolled movement and even crashing.

Wind Resistance Levels of Consumer drones

How to find wind speed before flying?

Drones normally do not have any sensors to measure wind speed. They can only measure how many adjustments they are making to resist the wind so it’s an indirect indicator of wind speed.

There are 2 ways you can find or estimate wind speed before flying your drone.

Using weather map

This is probably the easiest method to find wind speed at your locality before you go out flying.

Weather maps use wind speed sensors called anemometers on weather stations near you to measure and report the strength and direction of the wind in real time.

Almost all major weather apps and websites have wind speed indicators. I prefer to use Windfinder because of its easy-to-use interface.

Just put in your location and select your nearest weather station. The only caveat is that winds are a level or two stronger at altitude than at the ground.

All the weather stations report winds at ground level, so if the weather station reports a level 4 wind at ground level, consider it to be level 6 at high altitude.

Most consumer drones don’t go above 500 meters for legal and safety reasons. For example, the DJI mini 2 max altitude is fixed at 500 meters via software lock. The same applies to most consumer drones.

Using a portable anemometer

If you want to be more accurate in your wind speed measurement, you can use a portable pocket wind meter or anemometer (like this one).

It is a small device with a fan that turns when the wind blows past it.

Just hold the device perpendicular to the direction of the wind and take a few readings.

As was the case with the weather station wind level, the wind level measured by your pocket anemometer is also ground level.

To estimate wind at a high altitude for your drone, step the ground level up by 2 and then see if it is suitable for flying your drone or not.

You can also use your drone’s gyroscope reading inside the fly app to estimate the strength of the wind. Below video tutorial from DJI explains the concept simply.

FAQ